Kansas OKs hiring non-degreed teachers

Teachers can qualify with a bachelor’s degree — or “an industry-recognized certificate in a technical profession” — and at least five years of work experience in a STEM field. Schools are expected to use the policy primarily to hire career-tech teachers.

Comments

Because certification absolves the hiring agency of responsibility for determining qualifications. A certified teacher’s a qualified teacher because they’ve got a certification.

Without that crutch school districts would have to determine qualifications themselves and accept responsibility for the occasional screw-ups. Who needs that?

If you’ve got the certificate the ed school’s implying, not guaranteeing, you’re qualified. Since the school district’s not interested in guarantees of qualification it works out brilliantly.

It’s sort of a riff on the old joke about the old Soviet Unions – they pretend to pay us and we pretend to work. In this case it’s that the ed school pretends to educate teachers and the school districts pretend to care.